New mega-carrier Riyadh Air reveals its livery as it starts delivery of 72 long haul aircraft

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• BSI1978 says:

  6 Jun6 June 04:14

  Morning all, first I’ve heard/read about this new airline in truth @Rob, although I think one can arguably guess the answer to your question posed in the last paragraph….

  • BJ says:

    6 Jun6 June 05:45

    It will likely depend on the extent to which the mass media probes the rumours relating to the Boeing order. My guess is very little and people would forget or overlook anyway. I doubt we will see £1000 fares from the UK to Asia except perhaps as a launch offer but the airline will probably need to be quite well established before it will be offering much in the way of connecting flights. They might not even go down that route, for example Emirates is hardly known for cheap fares and marketing gimmicks yet they are very successful. IMO the world does not need another major ME airline but if this one wants to succeed it could do so by offering a 2-4-2 seat configuration through economy. It will be interesting to see the effect on QR and EK fares as this airline grows. My guess is QR will respond to the competition whilst it will just be business as usual at Emirates.

    • Phillip says:

      6 Jun6 June 06:20

      That’s all Emirates did in their early days! Early 00s you could rest assured that any route you searched for that could connect in DXB, Emirates would significantly undercut everyone else! It got them the popularity they needed as then new kids on the block! Etihad followed!

      • BJ says:

        6 Jun6 June 07:07

        I couldn’t remember that because most of my travel then were headed West. I think what worked for a lot of people too was the option to get from region to region or region to Australia with one stop. Then the a380 helped, and Dubai gained merit as a stopover or a destination in itself.

• Doug says:

  6 Jun6 June 05:31

  Just flew Saudia, good luck for them if they follow no alcoholic drinks policy too

  • Michael Jennings says:

    6 Jun6 June 08:43

    That actually might be the explanation for why the Saudis are creating a second national airline. One will be dry (and for locals who care about this) and the other will be wet (and possibly mainly for foreigners).

    • Blair Waldorf Salad says:

      6 Jun6 June 09:38

      I suspect this is the case too. Feelings expressed on this matter is very strong, whether performative or genuine.

    • can2 says:

      6 Jun6 June 12:48

      a tad too much investment, it seems, just to allow people drink in air 🙂

• Mouse says:

  6 Jun6 June 05:31

  Will it be dry?

  • James says:

    6 Jun6 June 14:10

    Is it dry joke day?

• Will in SJC says:

  6 Jun6 June 05:51

  Chatter is it won’t be dry. Saudia will continue to be mainly focused on Jeddah. It will be repositioned / will now only focus on Hadj flights and customers who have Jeddah as their final destination. Riyadh Air will be focused on the international traveler and as Rob points out more akin to the ME3.

  • Will in SJC says:

    6 Jun6 June 05:52

    *hajj

  • NFH says:

    6 Jun6 June 06:48

    As a dry airline, it wouldn’t be able to compete with Emirates, Qatar and Etihad. For many people, luxury doesn’t mean staying sober on a long-haul flight. The question is whether its lounges in Riyadh will likewise serve booze.

• Chris W says:

  6 Jun6 June 06:47

  I think people’s moral compass will end at actually entering Saudi. If they see cheap connecting flights where they simply transit, they will think “well I’m not really supporting the country”

  • GeoffreyB says:

    6 Jun6 June 07:18

    No worse than flying with an America airline really

    • dougzz99 says:

      6 Jun6 June 09:25

      Assuming you’re British, Glass Houses and all that.

  • Blair Waldorf Salad says:

    6 Jun6 June 08:16

    I have female friends who will not fly Saudia on the basis that if their connection is missed, they would not feel comfortable or safe spending a day and night in Saudi. It is quite a different proposition to the UAE in that regard. And they seem to know this themselves; ex-pats are having money flung at them to come work in Neom on the selling point of “you’d only have to be here on weekdays, and could fly to Dubai every weekend.”

    • Mike Hunt says:

      6 Jun6 June 08:24

      I think you will find Saudi safer than Sheffield – it is an incredibly safe place to be in comparison to the UK

      • BlueThroughCrimp says:

        6 Jun6 June 08:32

        Unless you’re a journalist that visits the embassy naturally.

        • can2 says:

          6 Jun6 June 12:49

          true.

      • The Savage Squirrel says:

        6 Jun6 June 09:24

        Mike, do you think that holds equally for men and women though? I’m not going to tell women how they should feel about this issue but it wouldn’t be a surprise to me to find that many would have concerns.

    • James says:

      6 Jun6 June 14:09

      London is defiantly not safe for one night or a day.. ask them to try walking out with their favourite bag or watch on

    • TooPoorToBeHere says:

      6 Jun6 June 16:02

      I’m not going to lecture a physically vulnerable person about where they should and shouldn’t feel vulnerable but I am fascinated by this and would like to understand what they are worried might happen.

      Expats going to Dubai at the weekend, to my mind, is about booze and girls rather than physical safety.

  • BlueThroughCrimp says:

    6 Jun6 June 08:31

    Speak for yourself.

• BJ says:

  6 Jun6 June 06:58

  What do people think of the livery? I don’t particularly like it and it lacks imagination.

  • The Original David says:

    6 Jun6 June 07:18

    The logo looks like a collaboration between Roger Federer and Simple Flying.

    • Michael C says:

      6 Jun6 June 07:44

      It’s definitely Roger’s “R”!!

  • Andrew J says:

    6 Jun6 June 07:43

    Not a fan – looks like a charter holiday airline.

  • AJA says:

    6 Jun6 June 08:05

    It’s too much purple. But the colour of the plane isn’t the problem, it’s the country that’s the issue. And if it is a dry airline then that won’t help. But even if it’s not the trouble is what happens when you arrive in Riyadh having had even one alcoholic drink on board – not a place where I’d like to end up in jail. Ironic really when you consider the etymology of the word alcohol.

  • Lady London says:

    6 Jun6 June 08:31

    That photo of it from the top makes it look like a variety of poison fish

    • Bagoly says:

      6 Jun6 June 10:58

      Interesting, I thought the photo for the top showed a missed opportunity to make it more interesting with such silver/dots.
      Aircraft liveries (like national flags) generally use a tiny subset of available possibilities – Condor’s new livery is a notable exception.

  • Andrew. says:

    6 Jun6 June 09:02

    It’s a bit Flybe from the front, and the “R” logo makes me think of either Rocco Forte or Remnant Kings.

• Erico1875 says:

  6 Jun6 June 06:58

  I’m not really sure how big an impact this start up will actually have unless they go on a mega buying spree.
  Lufthansa group run over 750 aircraft, IAG over 550, Turkish over 400, Emirates over 300 and Qatar over 200

  • Chris W says:

    6 Jun6 June 08:11

    How many aircraft did those airlines have in their first few years though?

  • Rob says:

    6 Jun6 June 08:40

    BA has 119 long haul aircraft. These guys will have 2/3rd of that by the end of the decade.

    • AJA says:

      6 Jun6 June 09:22

      Do you know how many long haul aircraft BA plan to have by the end of the decade? Presumably they are planning to buy new aircraft to replace all those 747s they retired?

      • Rhys says:

        6 Jun6 June 09:29

        Don’t forget BA still have a handful of A350/787-10 still to come, plus a chunky order for 777Xs which will arrive 2025+.

      • Rob says:

        6 Jun6 June 09:41

        I actually have an article on this written which may run tomorrow.

        • LittleNick says:

          6 Jun6 June 10:20

          Slightly Off-topic but talking of aircraft, do you guys have any update on club suite rollout so far YTD and BA’s plans for remaining aircraft to be refurbed and any timeline? Remaining 787’s? Any decision on A380’s etc? Gatwick fleet? Any changes to first etc? Sorry if question heavy here and apologise in advance if you get this a lot and there’s no known answer too

        • Rhys says:

          6 Jun6 June 10:36

          The 787-8s are due to start this year. That’s basically all that has been confirmed.

• Peter says:

  6 Jun6 June 08:00

  Saudia already is undercutting everyone else massively! Flew with them twice last year, to KUL for £350 return and ICN over Christmas and New Year’s for £380. The flights were good, modern aircraft, on-time, good food and IFE, and even a table cloth and amenity kit in economy. Also amazing lounge in JED thanks to ITA status match. Would definitely fly with them again.
  And I really don’t get people who need to drink on a plane, why would you get yourself dehydrated even further in the air?? Maybe it’s a generational thing..

  • LittleNick says:

    6 Jun6 June 09:24

    I just enjoy a couple of drinks when I fly, simple as. It’s all part of the travel experience. And I always drink additional water on the plane anyway. If it’s dry I generally wouldn’t bother, which is why I tend to skip Saudia promos when they’re on.

  • dougzz99 says:

    6 Jun6 June 09:29

    I often don’t drink on planes, but I don’t want someone telling me I can’t because of some fantasy history they’ve built they call religion.

    • zapato1060 says:

      6 Jun6 June 10:57

      What do you do whilst others celebrate Xmas?

      • swifty says:

        6 Jun6 June 22:14

        I moan about all the shops being shut and make a sacrifice of someone else’s child to the God of consumerism. Actually, Id be somewhere hot, and away, but we have animals that need looking after. Recycled the Xmas tree last year. Can’t be bothered with it now. Call me Grinch.

  • JDB says:

    6 Jun6 June 10:54

    BA has made itself a de facto dry airline in Club as far as we are concerned and unfortunately a growing number of routes that interest us such as EZE/CPT/PKX/PVG don’t offer F. The Club wine is now sufficiently dire that we don’t drink beyond the first taste. With QR now offering Meursault, other good whites and decent reds as well in J, the gap with BA’s bottom shelf offerings is ludicrous. The positive is that one does probably sleep better and generally arrive more refreshed.

    • GeoffreyB says:

      6 Jun6 June 11:46

      Good. If it stops people getting stupidly drunk

      • LittleNick says:

        6 Jun6 June 11:50

        Are there really that many getting drunk in club world or just a small minority? Should the majority that drink responsibly be penalised? I suspect this is more a cost-cutting exercise than aiming to stop people getting drunk (of course it’s not wanted)

    • LittleNick says:

      6 Jun6 June 11:48

      When you say dire as in undrinkable, tastes like vinegar? Or just not very premium for business class in comparison to other airlines but still drinkable? Maybe the equivalent of a £7-£10 bottle of wine out of Tesco which is usually perfectly drinkable but nothing very fancy of course. Not sure what they have but will find out later in the year.

      • The Original David says:

        6 Jun6 June 12:22

        It’s fine. Unless you’re a pretentious wine snob, there’s nothing wrong with it. But obviously it’s cool and sophisticated to say you can’t tolerate supermarket wines, Starbucks coffee tastes burnt and Moet is for plebs. I hate to think what these people do when they get off the plane at the far end and their chauffeur isn’t wearing the right sort of hat, the floor is too uneven for their Rimowa and the thread count is only 3 digits.

        Happy travel is about going with the flow, staying flexible and enjoying the surprises and opportunities along the way. Club World is fine.

        • JDB says:

          6 Jun6 June 12:57

          @The Original David – it has absolutely nothing to do with being a wine snob. We enjoy wine across a very wide price range and buy a fair bit from supermarkets but BA has very significantly downgraded the wine offering in J and chooses very poor examples. You may think Club World is fine (which is basically average or a 3 in many company annual staff assessments/reviews, a grade I would be very unhappy with). The issue is that while BA now has a better seat, they aren’t maintaining those suites/seats – they have been totally filthy on four CW flights this year and for all the issues cited above re food quality/presentation, staff ratios, service, loo ratios BA is objectively very poor vs many other airlines and much worse than it used to be where other airlines have generally got better.

        • Indy500 says:

          6 Jun6 June 18:18

          +1

      • JDB says:

        6 Jun6 June 12:41

        I’m talking sub £7 in some cases, but it’s more about the quality/drinkability where they don’t seem to have a clue. BA seems to specialise in very thin acidic whites – on a recent flight, they had Yealands Sauvignon Blanc – £8 at Sainsbury’s. It’s very sharp and without any of the good characteristics of SB. The other white was Leeuwenkuil Chenin Blanc – equally nasty and that sells at R500 (c. £10) for six bottles. It’s a similar story with the two reds. There are so many better wines at similar price points that I suspect they are simply getting huge discounts on these particular ones. BA used to serve much better wine in Club and the food was better previously despite it now being from Do & Co. plus the arrival of Club Suite has compromised the galleys (not just on the A350) and they have too few cabin crew so the service is pitifully slow and also too few loos vs passengers, so it’s all really quite bad.

        • VALittleRed says:

          6 Jun6 June 14:30

          Oh dear, seems a bit of a sorry state of affairs. Shame they don’t maintain the seats and keep them clean. Appreciate the mini-review as don’t fly business long haul very often so will be interested to see what it’s like later in the year when I’m due to fly with them.

        • Swifty says:

          6 Jun6 June 22:23

          I completely agree, the whites are thin and acidic/metallic. The champagne is pap. I don’t like spirits on flights. So yeah they should make some really nice mocktails or smoothies

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